104 comments on how to memorize starboard and port as right and left.
I have an even better way to know : Just fucking remember it.
It’s not that difficult.
Good idea. Just fucking remember it. JFRI. Jerry Fixes Ruined Items. Got it.
Port is fine stuff!
No it is not. Port and starboard are only left and right if you are facing the bow. If you are facing the stern they are reversed (from your perspective). The reason why is to make sure there are unambiguous terms for turning a ship in order to navigate and avoid collisions.
Btw the same rule applies to airplanes. If you are flying and have another airplane flying towards you both pilots must turn starboard to avoid a crash.
Pilot here. We just say left and right and don’t bother with port and starboard.
Usually you also know in which direction is front on a plane lol
On a ship it might get more confusing sometimes, so I see the reason there at least somewhat
Have you seen the Nathan Fielder special The Rehearsal up on HBO? It’s specifically about pilots and how to potentially reduce airplane crashes
I taught flight school at a busy uncontrolled airport for 2 years.
I stand corrected.
But yes, in the semi-rare event you find yourself approaching another aircraft of the same maneuverability head-on, you are to both avoid the collision by turning right.
I saw a training video about that, that’s how I know.
This sign looks like it’s fixed to the vessel, so it should be correct unless they put it in the wrong place, or someone decides to read it upside down without correcting it in their head.
Is no-one gonna mention the inconsistent formatting of the signs underneath? Just me?
I think it gives character, which is in opposition to the ‘black and white mono spaced thing’ above it making the joke even funnier
Port and left have the same number of letters, so that works in a pinch.
This is how I first (and still) remember the difference.
Did you ever hear about the bishop of Norwich? He always passes his port to the left.
“Left” and “Port” both have four letters. “Right” and “Starboard” both have more than four letters. That’s how you remember them.
port and starboard both have an r in the word, for right. that’s how I remember them.
How tf fid you get upvotes for this? /s
two wrongs don’t make a right… but three ports do
Boats used to have their steering paddle out on the right because most people were right handed. When you pulled into port, you didn’t want your steering rod to hit the port so port side was the left. That’s how I remember.
I memorized the following: “Port wine is red, and none is left in the morning”
Therefore Port - Left and Red and the other “Starboard” is Right and Green.
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excuse me if i sound dumb but like why not say left and right and ditch the nonsense?
Because port and starboard refer to the left and right side of the boat. If you are facing the stern your left would be starboard and right would be port.
And to remember the whole thing: “Star” comes from steer, goes back to old ships which had their rudder and till tied to the side at the aft and specifically, when looking forwards, to the right as people tend to be right-handed. Thus, steering-side == right if you’re looking forwards.
“Port” because that’s the side the port is on if you land without risking damaging the rudder. Originally it was “backboard” because that’s the board (== side of ship) that’s (often) in the helmsman’s back, English changed it at some point while everyone else kept it. The terminology goes back to at least Old Norse, probably earlier, that’s just the earliest that’s attested.
TIL
In Dutch it’s still bakboord.
but we’ve been sailing for a long time!
In Germany, too: “Backbord” & “Steuerbord”
My son is also named Bort
Doh
bort bort
Port and starboard are in relation to the ship while left and right are in relation to the person
Because left and right are relative, port and starboard are absolute.
Or to be more specific. Left and right are ambiguous because of the missing reference frame. It could be my left, your left or the left of the ship.
Port and starboard are always left and right in the reference frame of the ship.
Shipleft, shipright, fixed
But a Shipwright is a job.
You’re gonna steer the ship right into some innocent dude!
Port is the place where you park the boat. Starboard would be the side where the stars are. None of these words are specific enough.
If only one side is made to be connected to the port, then that’s pretty specific.
fair enough
I guess in emergencies on the water it needs to not look too much alike when you say it.
And also that smug feeling when you know it and someone else is out of the loop.
Can’t ‘fix’ hundreds of years of tradition
Nah, we can.
Traditions are just peer pressure from dead people.
So fuck em.
That’s incredibly short-sighted. Traditions are part of what makes up people’s culture.
Some should be made away with for sure, but I disagree with the blanket statement.
Knew it! No one can remember that shit.
Between “port” “starboard” “right” and “left” only two of the words have the same number of letters.
Left = Port
For the once per year I have to think about this, that’s my mnemonic.
A related more general mnemonic works for the running lights too. Red has fewer letters than green, so it goes with left which has fewer letters than right and port which has fewer letters than starboard.
When you are standing in the center of the boat looking forward just remember. Boats are like women! They have PmS! Port (on the left), me (in the middle), Starboard (on the right)!
Fo you have any mnemonics for aft, fore, stern and bow?
In German After is a scientific name for anus, so that’s the back of the boat. Hope that helps
I remember “bow” from that scene in Karate Kid where Mr. Miyagi shook the boat and made Daniel fall in the water.
You can also face forward and imagine the word “PISS” in the water.
Is that supposed to be an acronym? “Port Isn’t Starboard, Stupid?”
You could just imagine “PS”, but I guess piss helps.
I guess piss helps
That’s actually rarely the case in my experience. Generally, I mean.
I still remember the pneumonic for “pool” in Spanish that a high school classmate came up with: La Piscina — Piss in a pool.
“Port” and “left” both have four letters. “Starboard” is the other one.
Learned that trick a few years ago and have not forgotten since.
Starboard is right because it has two "r"s is how I was told
The problem is that left and right are different depending on which direction you’re facing on the ship.
That’s why it isn’t right or left. That would be confusing.
Port is always left facing foward on the ship. It’s on the right when looking towards the rear.
for the same reason we have forward (forward) and aft (back)… oh wait
Funny thing is cars still use right and left (atleast in US) often. Somethings driver vs passenger side. Driver vs passenger doesn’t work everywhere for every car in the world like it does with boats.
What also might be funny is driver vs passenger could be seen like port and starboard in the future if we get self driving cars. There would be no designated driver side of a car, and every side is a passenger. Just like boats nowadays can port on either side because there are no steering oars needed.
When trying to find which is which, you will know that your mnemonic is about left/right relative to the ship. The distinction between left/right and port/starboard is only needed because when communicating to others, you would need to set the reference frame.
Imagining a ship at port works for me, since then i can remember which side faces towards the port
Search images for “port”
Literally every single photo is of a ship docked starboard
??? It looks all wrong
Does that not depend on which side the port is on?
Nope, it’s one of the few things that everyone in the world has managed to standardize on.
that and standardized container sizes
“no red port left in the bottle”
I’ve ingrained this in my brain by doing hand motions whenever I say “port and starboard”. I throw my left hand out to my left when I say port and right hand when I say starboard. The muscle memory stops me from forgetting.
Instructions unclear, just punched my first mate in the groin.
This is one the few things I can remember and I have literally no use for it.
I remember it but then question myself
Alphabetically, port comes before starboard. We read left to right…
a large portion of the world doesn’t…
Right. This is in English, which is what I’m referring to.
ok. when you’re right, you’re right
it makes me a little irrationaly upset that we have left and right, both one syllable words
but the naval version of left and right, is a one syllable Port, and a two syllable Starboard
Well consider you’re on the deck in the open air during a storm, waves crashing everywhere, people yelling, you can barely hear anything.
Do you want to keep asking them to repeat which way to turn because you can’t hear? Or do you wanna know short word/one noise = right and long word/two noises = left?
Right and left are relative to your perspective. Port and starboard are relative to the ship and dont change if you’re facing aft.
As for syllable count, eh vOv
Stage left, stage right
It took me until this year to realize the port and starboard referred to what the ship was touching when docked. The left side goes to the port, the other side faces the stars.
I felt so dumb that I had completed Black Flag 3 times and never picked up on this.
Port used to be called larboard, and starboard is called that because it comes from middle English for “steering side”, essentially. Not actually anything to do with stars. But the port thing is true, they had to dock to port on the left because of the steering oars.
In German it’s still “Steuerbord”, “Steering board”
Why would the stars only be to the right? Would the ship start tilting when you haul all the loot into port?
There is no stars over land, because gravity makes them all fall down, so they know to avoid it
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Port and starboard are easy enough in a powerboat (of the type I am familiar with). Tie up port side, sit on starboard (steer board) side to steer.
But what is most fun is remembering what direction in a channel one is travelling in an area where the channels merge.
Right, all these people with mnemonics and whatnot to remember port and starboard; I just remember that port is on the port side when you dock.
Perhaps for Americans it’s harder, seeing as they park on the wrong side of the road.
Red right return
Instructions unclear
Are we returning or leaving? Where did the channel end and the new one begin? I go through that enough for it to be a problem, but not enough to remember where they switch direction.
Because the other response was less than helpful, and I was curious myself, I found this great page!
It explained a few types of markers and how to interpret them
https://www.boaterexam.com/navigationrules/aids-to-navigation/
There’s a buoy that is supposed to mark where channels join (not shown in the link), but they’re not in use in my area. The channels are a bit like a side road joining up with a curve in the main road, except being a channel the buoys aren’t exactly dense. So, in my case, i can travel in a straight line and the markers switch sides. I remember that one, but there’s another three that are similar in nature that I don’t get to frequently and have to think about. The added fun is that the are is a bunch of channels in a pile of rocks (islands) in a body of water; it’s not like I’m travelling up or down a river.
I have charts, but that would be cheating. also worth observing that the area is not dangerously busy.
If you don’t know if you’re returning or leaving in a channel you really shouldn’t be there to begin with
That’s how I learnt - but I learnt in the US and it’s the opposite here in Europe (Buoyage zone A I believe). Just for S&Gs I guess
Not a captain, so i can?
you and the captain make it happen.
(just don’t be captain save a ho)
red and left - both short words. port and left - both short words.
right and green - both long words. starboard and right - both long words.
PORT is the spirit that’s LEFT in the cupboard after the party
a STARBOARD would be RIGHT under your feet in space if it hasn’t floated away
Excellent!
I always remember it by the anagram in letters
P.S. port starboard
